Kankakee NAACP offers trip to civil rights march

The Kankakee County Branch of the NAACP, along with the Kankakee Federation of Labor and AFSCME Local 29, is sponsoring a charter bus, which will travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend for the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.

The march was one of the key events in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther Ling Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream'' speech there on Aug. 28, 1963. President Barack Obama will give a speech at the same location of King's speech at the culmination of the anniversary gathering.

The bus will depart Kankakee at 4 p.m. Friday and travel overnight to reach Washington Saturday. It will begin its return to Kankakee late Saturday. The cost is $115 per person. For further information, call 815-953-2399.

Theodis Pace, president of the local NAACP, said in a press release the march will give participants a chance to press these points:

• To oppose the attack against the Voting Rights Act initiated by the U.

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Local NAACP group heads to D.C. to hear Obama's speech

Local NAACP group heads to D.C. to hear Obama's speech

While the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, D.C., will draw an estimated hundreds of thousands from around the globe Saturday, it's hardly being billed as a celebratory event.

The Kankakee County Branch of the NAACP is sponsoring a bus trip to the nation's capitol, and a group of about 50 riders will depart from Kankakee this afternoon. Theodis Pace, president of the local NAACP chapter, said there is a specific purpose behind the venture.

"Our focus is it's a continuation of what happened on Aug. 28, 1963," Pace said.

On that date, acclaimed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream'' speech, which expressed his hope that racial equality would one day be reality in America.

Pace said that day has yet to arrive.

"Fifty years later, voting rights are being challenged, jobs are an issue and there is racial profiling,'' he said.

View the original article here

Local NAACP group heads to D.C. to hear Obama's speech

Local NAACP group heads to D.C. to hear Obama's speech

While the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, D.C., will draw an estimated hundreds of thousands from around the globe Saturday, it's hardly being billed as a celebratory event.

The Kankakee County Branch of the NAACP is sponsoring a bus trip to the nation's capitol, and a group of about 50 riders will depart from Kankakee this afternoon. Theodis Pace, president of the local NAACP chapter, said there is a specific purpose behind the venture.

"Our focus is it's a continuation of what happened on Aug. 28, 1963," Pace said.

On that date, acclaimed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream'' speech, which expressed his hope that racial equality would one day be reality in America.

Pace said that day has yet to arrive.

"Fifty years later, voting rights are being challenged, jobs are an issue and there is racial profiling,'' he said.

View the original article here